Common, Aloe Blacc and Erykah Badu were among the stars who celebrated the music of jazz legend Nina Simone at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah on Sunday night (25Jan15), performing new renditions of her signature tunes. The trio joined fans and executives at The Sundance Institute for the annual Celebration of Music in Film concert, which also marked the launch of Liz Garbus' new movie What Happened, Miss Simone?.
Simone's former band leader, Al Schackman, led the celebration, which featured Badu's a cappella version of Feeling Good and Blacc's take on civil rights anthem Strange Fruit.
Rapper and actor Common closed the evening by giving Simone songs like Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood and Young, Gifted & Black a hip-hop twist.

Veteran actress Rita Moreno is getting animated to star in a new children's TV show. The Oscar-winning West Side Story star will lend her voice to Nina's World as grandmother Abuelita, who helps to guide her granddaughter, the titular character, through childhood and teach her about her Hispanic culture.
Acting newcomer Isabella Farrier will play young Nina, while Michele Lepe will voice her mother.
The series is a spin-off of The Good Night Show, which Lepe currently hosts, and will air on NBC Universal's Sprout network next year (15), according to Variety.com.
Network president Sandy Wax writes in a statement: "Rita Moreno is a living legend, and it's fantastic to welcome her to Sprout's family.
"We know that she will bring her character to life as no one else could - she embodies all of the spirit and energy that Abuelita brings to Nina's World while maintaining an authenticity to the character's Hispanic background."
Nina's World won't be Moreno's first role in a children's project - she previously voiced blue Macaw Aunt Mimi in Rio 2 earlier this year (14), while she was also a key member of the cast of The Electric Company, a 1970s educational programme for kids.

Buena Vista Pictures via Everett Collection
Twenty-one years ago, we watched a homophobic Denzel Washington warm up to his fellow lawyer and client Tom Hanks, a gay man afflicted with AIDS, over the course of a criminal case that proved that America was no easy place for a homosexual gentleman to make a living or lead his life. And at the end of this story called Philadelphia, that no-longer-homophobic Denzel Washington was a hero. The sort of man who harbored "completely sympathetic" sentiments at the start, but graduated to sentiments altogether admirable. That's the sort of world we lived in back in 1993. But these 21 years later, we live in the sort of world that would take a homophobic Denzel Washington and cast him into villainy, redemptive arc or not. Which is why the plot of Disney's Father of the Bride 3, of all things, sounds about a decade or so too late.
The threequel to Steve Martin's family comedies Father of the Bride (1991) and Father of the Bride Part II (1995) will have the snow-capped comedic dynamo lamenting the realization that his son Matt (played in the first two films by young Kieran Culkin, now age 29) is gay and engaged to a man. Nikki Finke's blog reports the premise, explaining that Martin's uptight-but-affable family man George Banks will this time be "thunderstruck and speechless" and none too keen on the revelation of his son's sexual orientation. Although George's wife Nina (Diane Keaton) plays the voice of reason in casting her thick-headed husband out of the house, so reports Finke, we're still looking at a severely outdated mentality in the approach of the subject.
Buena Vista Pictures via Everett Collection
Although homophobia is a far, far cry from absent in today's America, the media (including a few of Disney's own properties) seems to embrace the idea that anyone advertising prejudice against gay men and women is acting in the name of ignorance, idiocy, and injustice, not the "acceptable hesitations" of eras past. No longer do we live in the Philadelphia days when a character like Washington's attorney Joe Miller might be seen as sympathetic in spite (or perhaps in light) of his bigotry. Today, the homophobes of film and TV are the bad guys. Although heteronormativity remains a problem coursing through our media, abject hatred is aligned with criminal characters. How can we accept our own George Banks in his role as put-upon good guy with such a nasty proclivity for intolerance?
And why is it necessary in a movie about gay marriage for any figure to express disfavor with the wedding at hand? Of course it would be ridiculous to deny extant hardships faced by the gay community, but we've also breached an era wherein the notion of a family accepting a member's profession of homosexuality without pause is hardly implausible. The Philadelphias of past helped to align the sympathies of viewing audiences with gay men and women, to point out the wickedness in the time's all-too-prevalent defamy. What we need now from our movies is to induct gay relationships into their depiction of normalcy. To show that the same love, happiness, drama, and comedy that we see in films like Father of the Bride would exist in a story about two men tying the knot. Even this notion seems too obvious to point out, but clearly Disney doesn't quite think so.
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20th Century Fox Film via Everett Collection
Pretty soon, passengers on the Queen Mary 2's transatlantic route will set sail with director Wes Anderson and a few members of the Grand Budapest Hotel cast. According to CNN, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, and Wes' afrequent collaborating screenwriter Roman Coppola will all be on board to attend screenings of Anderson's films and participate in audience Q&amp;As. No word on whether the kitchen will be serving Mendl's Courtesan au Chocolat or if the concierge will be as solicitous as Gustave H. Still, this cinematic sail has us dreaming of themed cruises inspired by our favorite movies. Here are a few ideas.
1. Moulin Rouge!
Sumptuous, lavish, romantic. A few days living inside Baz Luhrmann's musical epic will have you feeling like you've danced with the Green Fairy. There might be a treacherous, possessive Duke on the loose, but the guest talent show on the final night would be a doozy.
2. Inception
Cruise ships have levels, and according to Christopher Nolan, so do dreams. What if you could play the Architect and design your own stateroom to full dream-like specifications? We'd be on the phone to our travel agent right now.
3. Gone with the Wind
The perfect trip for anyone who's ever been accused of being "over-dramatic," our Gone with the Wind cruise would be all sweeping scores and epic clinches. For obvious reasons, some basic elements of the Civil War era drama will have to be updated. And the diameter of the ladies' hoop skirts would probably cut our capacity in half.
4. Black Swan
Those who are only happy when it rains can go dark with a cruise inspired by Darren Aronofsky's trippy ballerina thriller. The line between reality and nightmare may get slightly blurred, but club night will definitely be interesting. And, like Nina Sayers' final dance, we're sure it'll all be perfect.
5. The Lego Movie
Lego ice sculptures! Lego towel animals! Lego deck chairs! All Lego everything! A whole ship of Legos! When do we leave?
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Pop star Ariana Grande and comedian Jim Carrey spent Monday morning (21Apr14) at the White House as they joined U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle for the annual Easter Egg Roll. The Way singer helped to celebrate the Easter holiday by performing for an estimated 30,000 people in the White House gardens in Washington, D.C., while Carrey performed a reading from his kids' book How Roland Rolls.
President Obama also treated young attendees to a reading from classic story book Where the Wild Things Are.
Other guests at the event included Miss America Nina Davuluri and Disney star Debby Ryan, who was also given a tour of the presidential residence.
She says, "I toured the West Wing with my family... They let me in... It's very nice."

Millennium Entertainment
It's a crying shame that we haven't seen much of Michael Pitt since his untimely dismissal from Boardwalk Empire. Although the baby-faced power player's name has bubbled up in the entertainment waters regarding Hannibal casting and the Sundance flick I Origins, the general public still longs for his return. Rob the Mob delivers just that, placing Pitt alongside other recently elusive favorites like Ray Romano and Andy Garcia, as well as Nina Arianda, in a crime drama about a young couple turning its own guns on the Mafia.
These exclusive pics feature snapshots from the Queen-set film, based on a true story and directed by native New Yorker Raymond De Felitta. Pitt feels right at home in a crime drama, ditto Garcia, though we never thought we'd see the day that Ray Romano headlined a Mafia picture... it's an exciting maneuver for the former sitcom star, who already began turning in more substantial fare with his recurring role on Parenthood and will up the ante yet again in this new film.
Millennium Entertainment
You can check out the Rob the Mob trailer below, and catch the film on Mar. 21.
Phillip Caruso/Millennium Entertainment
Millennium Entertainment
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NBC
3rd Rock From the Sun is by far one of the best sitcoms in television history. It’s the perfect blend of the outlandish sitcom premises of the 1980s and the ensemble driven comedies of the 1990s. In the '80s, sitcoms had wildly illogical premises – a Buckingham Palace butler moves in with a Pittsburgh family (Mr. Belvedere), an alien moves in with a family (Alf), or a scientist makes a robotic daughter (Small Wonder). The '90s were chock full of ensemble comedies like Seinfeld until Friends brought about the dark ages of sitcoms. 3rd Rock merged the two and lasted a shocking six seasons and resulted in multiple Emmys and Golden Globes for the cast and crew.
Dick Solomon (John Lithgow) is the High Commander of an alien expedition to Earth. The creatures have been given human bodies and it brings a lot of humorous hi-jinks. Sally Solomon (Kristen Johnston) is the Security Officer and the one chosen to be “the woman” and is conveniently stunningly attractive. The Information Officer and oldest of the group gets placed in the body of a teenager in the form of Tommy Solomon (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Harry Solomon (French Stewart) was not intended to take the trip but joins the crew and acts as the communicator to their home planet. Solomon teaches at the local college and has a very tense relationship with Dr. Mary Albright (Jane Curtin) and secretary Nina Campbell (Simbi Khali).
The series is genius. It finds the humor and irony in the mundane things we take for granted. The Solomon family has a unique perspective on the simplest of human customs and experiences. The cast is also full of amazing actors. Not only are Lithgow and Curtain comedy veterans, but since the series Levitt has proven himself to be an A-list actor. Stewart and Johnston are also still on television in the series Mom and The Exes, respectively.
The series has some pretty great recurring guest stars including William Shatner as their alien leader, Jan Hooks as Harry’s love interest, and John Cleese as a rival alien for Dick. The series also features appearances by Roseanne Barr, Phil Hartman, Christine Baranski, and Jane Lynch.
3rd Rock is worth a thorough binge watching for jokes that stand the test of time, an ensemble of amazing actors, and episodes that, for lack of a better term, are light years ahead of some series that are currently on television. All six seasons of the series are available to Hulu Plus subscribers.
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Lions Gate via Everett Collection
When we last left our heroes, they had conquered all opponents in the 74th Annual Hunger Games, returned home to their newly refurbished living quarters in District 12, and fallen haplessly to the cannibalism of PTSD. And now we're back! Hitching our wagons once again to laconic Katniss Everdeen and her sweet-natured, just-for-the-camera boyfriend Peeta Mellark as they gear up for a second go at the Capitol's killing fields.
But hold your horses — there's a good hour and a half before we step back into the arena. However, the time spent with Katniss and Peeta before the announcement that they'll be competing again for the ceremonial Quarter Quell does not drag. In fact, it's got some of the film franchise's most interesting commentary about celebrity, reality television, and the media so far, well outweighing the merit of The Hunger Games' satire on the subject matter by having Katniss struggle with her responsibilities as Panem's idol. Does she abide by the command of status quo, delighting in the public's applause for her and keeping them complacently saturated with her smiles and curtsies? Or does Katniss hold three fingers high in opposition to the machine into which she has been thrown? It's a quarrel that the real Jennifer Lawrence would handle with a castigation of the media and a joke about sandwiches, or something... but her stakes are, admittedly, much lower. Harvey Weinstein isn't threatening to kill her secret boyfriend.
Through this chapter, Katniss also grapples with a more personal warfare: her devotion to Gale (despite her inability to commit to the idea of love) and her family, her complicated, moralistic affection for Peeta, her remorse over losing Rue, and her agonizing desire to flee the eye of the public and the Capitol. Oftentimes, Katniss' depression and guilty conscience transcends the bounds of sappy. Her soap opera scenes with a soot-covered Gale really push the limits, saved if only by the undeniable grace and charisma of star Lawrence at every step along the way of this film. So it's sappy, but never too sappy.
In fact, Catching Fire is a masterpiece of pushing limits as far as they'll extend before the point of diminishing returns. Director Francis Lawrence maintains an ambiance that lends to emotional investment but never imposes too much realism as to drip into territories of grit. All of Catching Fire lives in a dreamlike state, a stark contrast to Hunger Games' guttural, grimacing quality that robbed it of the life force Suzanne Collins pumped into her first novel.
Once we get to the thunderdome, our engines are effectively revved for the "fun part." Katniss, Peeta, and their array of allies and enemies traverse a nightmare course that seems perfectly suited for a videogame spin-off. At this point, we've spent just enough time with the secondary characters to grow a bit fond of them — deliberately obnoxious Finnick, jarringly provocative Johanna, offbeat geeks Beedee and Wiress — but not quite enough to dissolve the mystery surrounding any of them or their true intentions (which become more and more enigmatic as the film progresses). We only need adhere to Katniss and Peeta once tossed in the pit of doom that is the 75th Hunger Games arena, but finding real characters in the other tributes makes for a far more fun round of extreme manhunt.
But Catching Fire doesn't vie for anything particularly grand. It entertains and engages, having fun with and anchoring weight to its characters and circumstances, but stays within the expected confines of what a Hunger Games movie can be. It's a good one, but without shooting for succinctly interesting or surprising work with Katniss and her relationships or taking a stab at anything but the obvious in terms of sending up the militant tyrannical autocracy, it never even closes in on the possibility of being a great one.
3.5/5
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Adam Levine's ex-girlfriend Nina Agdal has opened up about the singer's engagement to fellow model Behati Prinsloo, insisting she is happy for the couple. The Maroon 5 frontman briefly romanced Sports Illustrated supermodel Agdal after splitting up from Prinsloo, his girlfriend of a year, in May (13).
But their time together did not last long, and Levine decided to rekindle his love with Prinsloo and proposed to her in July (13).
But Agdal has no hard feelings towards her ex after he rebounded with a proposal, telling Ocean Drive magazine, "I am 21 years old, and I don't think anyone who is 21 knows what love is about yet... I think love just happens. It happened to them and I'm happy for them."
She continues, "If something is meant to be, then it will be. I feel like so many young girls have this idea of a relationship or marriage or love and they don’t even know. We are 21 years old, OK? Go out, have a tequila, and stop worrying about it."
While her ex-beau is busy planning a wedding, Agdal has also moved on to another heartthrob singer - she is dating The Wanted hunk Max George.